• FG declares public holiday
• Igbo won’t join planned nationwide protests, says Ohanaeze
• Lamido urges Tinubu to recognise Nwosu’s role for fairness, pay Abiola’s family N45b
The Federal Government has declared Thursday, June 12, 2025, a public holiday in celebration of Democracy Day, the Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, declared in a statement signed by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Dr Magdalene Ajani, at the weekend, in Abuja.
President Bola Tinubu will seize the opportunity of Democracy Day to confer national honours on select senators and House of Representatives members.
However, as many groups prepare to stage protests countrywide over bad governance, the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, yesterday, sounded it very clear that seven Igbo-speaking states would not participate in the proposed June 12 nationwide protest.
Former governor of Jigawa State and elder statesman, Sule Lamido, called for the formal recognition and honouring of the late Prof Humphrey Nwosu, the man who supervised Nigeria’s freest and fairest general election on June 12, 1993.
Nwosu, who released part of the June 12 presidential election results, against the wish of the then-military junta, died in October 2024 at 83 years of age.
Tunji-Ojo congratulated Nigerians on the 26 years of uninterrupted civil rule, saying: “June 12 represents our historic journey to building a nation where truth and justice reign and peace is sustained and our future assured.”
The honours on the federal lawmaker will be presented during a Special Joint Sitting of the National Assembly at the House of Representatives Chamber in Abuja.
According to an internal memorandum issued by the Clerk of the House, Dr Yahaya Danzaria, and confirmed in a statement by the House Spokesman, Akin Rotimi, yesterday, the joint sitting will commence at 11.00 a.m. and Tinubu expected to arrive at noon to deliver a Presidential Address on the theme, ‘26 Years of Democracy: Renewing Our Commitment to National Development’.
In his 64th Independence Anniversary speech on October 1, 2024, Tinubu conferred national honours of the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) on both the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio and House Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas.
The Deputy President of the Senate, Barau Jibrin got Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR), while the Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, was awarded Commander of the Order of Niger (CON).
IN a statement, the National Deputy President of Ohanaeze faction, Okechukwu Isiguzoro, explained that the decision to shun the protests was a strategic response to safeguard Igbo lives and property across Nigeria, as the Igbo’s properties were always targets each time such a protest occurred.
Isiguzoro further asserted that even if such gatherings were permitted across the seven Igbo-speaking states, the fundamental issues concerning the Igbo must be addressed adequately by the Federal Government.
The statement added: “In light of extensive consultations with key Igbo stakeholders, Ohanaeze Ndigbo hereby announces a decisive and unequivocal stance regarding the upcoming June 12 Democracy Day protests.
“Our historical involvement in national protests has left us with bitter memories marred by betrayal and violence, and over the last 65 years since Nigeria’s Independence, evidence has shown that during previous protests against government actions, Igbos have been unjustly demonised and treated as scapegoats, resulting in tragic consequences.”
SPEAKING with The Guardian yesterday, Lamido expressed deep concern that while the late Moshood Abiola had rightly been honoured with a GCFR and a national holiday on June 12, the man who midwifed that electoral process, Nwosu, remained largely unacknowledged.
For the second time in two days, specifically on March27, 2025, the Senate at plenary had rejected a motion seeking to rename the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) headquarters after Nwosu, the chairman of the defunct National Electoral Commission (NEC), who oversaw the historic June 12 election.
Earlier on Wednesday, in a fierce debate that erupted on the floor of the Senate when some lawmakers blocked a motion seeking to immortalise Nwosu.
Not deterred by the rejection, Sen Enyinnaya Abaribe, on Thursday, represented the motion, seeking posthumous national honours for Nwosu. But the proposal met stiff resistance.
Lamido, known for his fair-mindedness, continued: “Whatever anyone may say about him, June 12 would not have existed without Humphrey Nwosu”
He also reiterated his earlier call for the payment of the N45 billion owed the Abiola’s family, not at today’s value, but at the value it held at the time. He argued that the government has the capacity to do so.
At the public presentation of his autobiography ‘Being True to Myself’ in Abuja, last month, Lamido had urged Tinubu to courageously bring closure to the June 12 saga by paying the N45 billion for contracts executed by Abiola’s company.
